Mango Strawberry Macadamia Nut Shortbread Bars and the 4th of July in Hawaii

AJ and I took the month of July off, packed our bags and went to paradise (ie. Maui). I called it “my sabbatical” as I had grandiose plans to do many things that I can’t seem to do when I am at home, in my apartment, with the numerous distractions that come with being at home. In theory it seemed like a good idea, but in reality, I haven’t really had a chance to do all the things I wanted to do, as I’ve been too busy going to the beach and going to the beach. Oh and going to the beach. But I also have been utterly inspired by all the tropical fruit here in Maui, and, when I’m not at the beach, I find myself dreaming and scheming about what to make with the fruit that I normally don’t pick up in San Francisco. One of the first things I made here in Hawaii was a Mango Strawberry Macadamia Nut Shortbread Bars.

Mango Strawberry Macadamia Nut Shortbread Bars

We arrived July 1st, a month full of promise and sun. We knew three people on the island, but we were sure we would make friends. AJ and I are fairly gregarious that way. We had not done a lot of planning, figuring we had a month here to figure it all out, and we had been to Maui once before, for a friend’s wedding. Through circumstances, we ended up renting a *cough* well loved, slightly older car with only a 150,000 miles on it, that was half the price of renting a new car from a big name car rental agency. We knew we would blend in with the locals with our beat up Toyota with the ubiquitous turtle sticker and Bob Marley decal on the back window (AJ hates reggae but don’t tell anyone that).

Our awesome totally well loved rental car that allowed us to blend with the locals.

The condo we rented was no frills but clean and really conveniently located. The kitchen was rather sparse in truth. Though coming from my San Francisco kitchen, where I had everything I wanted, I knew any vacation condo kitchen was going to be a challenge. I tweeted, asking people what I should bring to a tropical island, and received some great advice, though a few impractical ones (I knew as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t bring my KitchenAid mixer or food processor). In the end, I brought a large rubber spatula, a paring knife, a chef knife, a microplane zester and a digital thermometer.

I can bake anywhere. I am the MacGyver of kitchens.

Our second day here, our friend Brian (1 of the 3 aforementioned friends) had invited us up to the West Maui, where his Taiko drumming group was performing for an O-Bon festival, a traditional Japanese ceremony and dance. Not really having much else to do, we went, and watched as the Japanese Buddhists light candles and set them afloat into the sea for their ancestors. It was a moving beautiful affair and afterwards Brian taught us how to dance with the others who were there, as he drummed and sang in Japanese. I likened the experience to country line dancing, but Japanese style and more celebratory.

Lanterns for O-Bon Festival ready to be set out to ocean.
Each lantern is made and decorated by the family for the ancestors that have passed away.
The lanterns for O-Bon Festival are set out to sea after sunset.
Afterwards Brian sang while everyone danced.
The dancing reminded me of a Japanese version of line dancing.
AJ and I enjoyed ourselves enough to take a very flattering self portrait of our nostrils.

A couple of days later, after hanging out on the beach, we were invited to a local’s 4th of July Potluck party for the gays (okay, really we found the party online, but a person we met on the beach, who was going, totally said it was going to be fun so we took his word for it). We had hemmed and hawed about going as we didn’t really know anyone, but hey, how are we going to meet anyone if we just stay at home? So we ran to the store, picked up some supplies and I made the strawberry mango bars (along with another baked good that I’ll post about later on).

Mango Strawberry Macadamia Nut Shortbread

With all bars like these, I really needed to let them set up overnight in the fridge, but I didn’t have time, so they arrived at the party all sloppy and loose – much like some of the party goers, who had been there for a couple hours knocking back jello shots. Whether it was the jello shots, or the fact that the mango strawberry bars were tasty, the messiness didn’t stop people from scarfing them down. In fact, they seemed to be quite the hit, and whenever we introduced ourselves and someone found out I was the one who made the bars, inevitably they would exclaim “OMG. So YOU’RE the pastry chef! I heard that there was a pastry chef here. Those bars were so good…”

The stunning view from the deck of our host’s house for 4th of July.

I tried to explain to people that I wasn’t a pastry chef, but after the third time it happened I gave up (I’m not sure who started the rumor that I was one, but I’m not going to complain). The host of the party was incredibly sweet and his house was amazing. Like AMAZING amazing. With an incredible view of South and West Maui, he and his partner retired in Maui a few years ago from Los Angeles and they built their place with a deck overlooking the ocean. The view they had was quite literally stunning. What a way to watch the sunset and celebrate Independence Day, with new friends and a month ahead of us, to relax and enjoy, full of promise for things to come…

The guests checking out the stunning sunset on 4th of July in Maui. Photo by Stewart Rubin.
The sunset that the guests were looking at.

Mango Strawberry Macadamia Nut Shortbread Bars

Mango Strawberry Macadamia Nut Shortbread Bars

Similar to a lemon bar, these mango strawberry bars really need a good chilling overnight. I wouldn’t bother dusting them with powdered sugar, as it will obscure the gorgeous neon colors that the mango and strawberry curd make, but I’ll leave it up to you. The hardest part of making these bars is that you have to cook the curd ahead of time, unlike a lemon bar where you can just pour the curd on uncooked and let the oven do the work. The reason you cook the curd ahead of time is so that the curd is thick enough to swirl together on top of the shortbread. Be sure to let the bars sit overnight in the fridge, or they’ll be a mess when you cut and serve them.

1. Make the strawberry filling by combining the strawberries and sugar together and cooking them in a medium pot on high heat, until the strawberries start to fall apart. Remove from heat and move them to a nonreactive metal bowl snuggly fit over a pot with a small bit of water in it (make sure the bowl isn’t touching the water). Add the eggs and flour to the bowl and cook in the double boiler with the water simmering, continually whisking the strawberry curd until thick, about 6 to 8 minute. Remove from heat and press curd through a fine meshed sieve. Add the salted butter to it, stirring to melt and incorporate. Set aside to cool.

2. Make the mango filling by combining the mango and sugar together and cooking them in a medium pot on high heat, until the mangoes start to fall apart. Remove from heat and move them to a nonreactive metal bowl snuggly fit over a pot with a small bit of water in it (make sure the bowl isn’t touching the water). Add the lemon juice, egg yolks, egg, salt into the metal bowl. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the mixture. Cook in the double boiler with the water simmering, continually whisking the mango curd until thick, about 6 to 8 minutes or so. Remove from heat and press curd through a fine meshed sieve. Set aside to cool.

3. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Lightly coat a 9” x 13” baking pan with cooking spray, and then line with parchment paper, allowing for the paper to overhang by a few inches (the cooking spray will help the paper stick to the pan).

4. Place the flour into a medium size mixing bowl. Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a bowl, breaking up any lumps. Using a wire balloon whisk, vigorously stir the flour and sugar together until they are evenly distributed. Cut up the butter into 1/4” cubes and sprinkle into the bowl. Using your hands, mix the flour and butter together, squeezing the butter and dry ingredients together until a smooth dough starts to form. Add the chopped macadamia nuts and squeeze them in by hand until evenly incorporated and you have a smooth dough.

Toss the butter in the dry ingredients first.

Squeeze the dough together with the butter.

Once you’ve added the chopped macadamia nuts, your dough should look like this.

5. Press the dough into the baking pan with the parchment paper. You want to spread the dough evenly on the bottom and up the sides ever so slightly (about 1/4” to 1/2” if you can). You can use the bottom of a flat drinking cup to just flatten out the dough all the way around to help facilitate even baking. Line the crust with parchment paper again, and then fill with dry beans, dry rice or pie weights if you have them. If you happen to be staying at a not as well equipped condo kitchen, you can do what I do, and put some old butter knives over the parchment paper to bake. Bake the crust in the oven for about 25 to 35 minutes or until the crust is a deep golden brown, rotating halfway through to make sure the crust bakes evenly.

Who needs pie weights or dry beans when you can use butter knives?

6. Reduce the oven temperature to 300˚F. Remove the parchment paper (with the weights/knives inside) and then pour the mango curd onto the hot crust. Then spoon the strawberry curd on top of the mango curd randomly. Take a knife (make sure it’s a cold one, not the one you just baked in the oven) or the handle of a spoon or fork (because you might have forgotten to save a knife to do it, and had baked all of them) and swirl the curd around decoratively. Place back in the oven and bake for an additional 25 minutes or until the sides of the pan look dry and stiff, and only the center of the pan is a little wobbly (but not too much). Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight to set up.

Pour the mango curd onto the hot crust.

Spoon the strawberry curd in dollops over the mango curd.

Swirl decoratively with a knife or the handle of a spoon.

Pull the bars out and let cool to room temperature before refrigerating overnight.

7. Once the bars have set, grab the sides of the parchment paper and pull straight up and move the bars to a cutting board. Cut and serve to your new friends at a party and wait for the compliments to come in.

The shortbread alone must taste great so I can’t even imagine the taste of the whole bar…
I want to limit the amount of flour so I’m tempted to try with ricotta cheese instead of flour in the strawberry curd filling. I know, quite different but confident it will taste good.

I am grabbing my bikini and jumping on a plane to Maui NOW- please leave at least 4 of those mango strawberry macadamia nut shortbread bars hidden at an agreed secret hiding spot? They look like the perfect tropical treat.

Nice one Irvin! I admire how you found the time to bake during a holiday with limited resources but you made ends meet. I love the sound of this slice. It’s Winter here in Sydney and I’m craving for some warmth, I can’t wait for Spring/Summer to kick in. Definitely will be keeping this recipe in mind, mangoes and macadamias are blissful together!

yummmm. these look delicious. and I’m enjoying your Hawaii photos. I feel very relaxed and like I’m on vacation when I look at them. ahhhhhhh . . . think I will go have some poi and kalua pig . . . pig is a vegetable, right?

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Hey there! Thanks for visiting my blog. I'm Irvin Lin, an IACP-Award winning photographer, award winning baker, award winning graphic designer, storyteller, recipe developer, writer and average joe bon vivant. Hilarity often ensues when I'm involved. I currently reside in San Francisco in the neighborhood people have recently taken to calling "The Gastro" - a block from Dolores Park and right near Tartine Bakery, Bi Rite Market & Creamery, and Delfina.

I can also be found at various food events around the city. Feel free to contact me by clicking on that picture of me up above or emailing me eatthelove {at} gmail {dot} com.

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